Working Life

    Yesterday, the House passed a bill called the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. You may remember Ledbetter was the victim of an idiotic Supreme Court decision that denied her claim of discrimination because the Court said she had waited too long to file the claim. That outrageous decision would be overturned by law if […]

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    This is potentially a big story–and an important one. For many years, cities and states have been caught in effectively a blackmail situation–companies threaten to leave or not relocate their businesses unless the municipalities hand over a whole host of tax breaks and incentives. In return for these gifts, companies promise that all sorts […]

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Can we get some New York senators who aren’t totally beholden to the Wall Street bankers? I mean, geez…A piece today in The New York Times explores why Chuck Schumer is running interference for the private equity fund and hedge fund managers who are trying to block a bill that would hike their taxes. June […]

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Before I cite a few reports on yesterday’s collapse in markets around the world, let me pause for these two observations: 1. This was all predictable. My colleague Dean Baker warned of the housing bubble as far back as 2002. And you didn’t have to be a rocket scientist, or even an economist, to feel […]

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    This is so typical that it’s hardly surprising–From UPI: Iraq’s oil minister said Iraq’s oil unions are not legitimate and have no more standing in the debate over the oil law than an ordinary citizen. “There are no legal unions in Iraq,” Hussein al-Shahristani said Wednesday in response to a question about various factions’ […]

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Even for me, $58 billion sounds like a lot of money…that’s apparently the shortfall in the New Jersey state pension funds, which the state plans on confirming tomorrow. Mary Williams Walsh in The New York Times reports today that: It turns out that New Jersey will need about $58 billion, in today’s dollars, to provide […]

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Most of the MSM reporting on the opening yesterday of the negotiations between the UAW and General Motors and Ford was pretty standard fare. The New York Times article doesn’t reveal a lot but there are two things of note. First, from UAW prez Ron Gettelfinger:   Mr. Gettelfinger, too, sees the outcome of the […]

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For those of us who remember the long grocery workers’ strike that went on for almost five months back in 2003-2004, there apparently won’t be a repeat. The Los Angeles Times was reporting yesterday that: Grocery clerks appear to be backing new contract By Richard Verrier and Jerry Hirsch Times Staff Writers July 23, 2007 […]

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As I mentioned the other day, I just got back from taking part in a portion of John Edwards’ poverty tour. And while I agree with many observers that the MSM is focusing on really stupid stuff, The Wall Street Journal says something different today, which is worth noting: “Edwards, Trailing Rivals,Holds Sway Over Party’s […]

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I’ve written about this before but it bears repeating–particularly when The New York Times and the rest of the MSM continue to let ideology, not economic facts, dictate policy coverage. Today’s Times article on the challenges facing UAW retirees gives us another opportunity see how, despite large public sentiment in support of single-payer, the MSM […]

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